


The Sky & The Woods

by Bolontiku



Category: MCU, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Drug Use, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 06:17:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolontiku/pseuds/Bolontiku
Summary: One remembers the color of the sky, the other the color of the woods.





	The Sky & The Woods

## *****

Howard Stark was a smart man, even in his younger years he accepted the fact that finding your soulmate before you died was slim to none. He lost his color at the young age of six. Many remembered colors but he hardly thought about it as he applied his mind to weapons, to advancement, logic.

Then he met Maria. 

Tony came along and his life became less about work and more about his family. When Maria became sick, they thought it would be happy news, maybe a sibling for Tony, until they faced the doctor.

* * *

 

Tony remembered his mothers eyes were a caramel color. He remembered he enjoyed crawling through his father’s office’s chased by the man or his mother. He remembered she liked the color pink, red was hot and sometimes represented evil, blue was the color of the sky...

Tony missed the color of the sky...

* * *

 

“Tony, Tony...are you high?!” Pepper asked harshly shoving his feet off the coffee table and setting a cup down, the porcelain clinking on the glass top. She caught his chin in hand and frowned as he giggled at her. “dammit Tony!”

“What?!” he asked sitting up eyes half lidded and reaching for the cup, “none of this matters...she likes it when I’m like this anyways.”

Pepper took in a deep breath, “Tony, you don’t have to get married to her...”

“Pepp...” he sighed and set the coffee down, splashing it and not caring, “dad doesn’t care, not really, he just wants to marry me off and get rid of me. He’ll pay anyone that’s willing to take me off his hands, what are you worried about anyway? This means that you won’t have to deal with me anymore!”

“You’re such a jerk when you’re like this!” she groused slapping him on the leg, “Tony...you know I care about you, so does Happy and James.”

“Ahhh, but you married Happy instead of me-” 

Pepper had met Happy through Tony after they had been dating for three months. They had always missed each other, one not going to a party, or being sick. It wasn’t till Howard had asked Pepper to come meet with him to discuss their future together when Pepper and Happy met. Both had been surprised by the sudden onslaught of colors, the people around them confused as to what happened. 

Howard had not been happy.

Pepper glared at him, “I can see colors because he is my soulmate and you know that.”

“Which is why you married him instead of me and dad accepted that and Rhodey...” Tony waved a hand cutting the conversation to a stop.

Pepper sat back, “your father wants you upstairs, they’re waiting for you. Yes, before you ask it is a party, your engagement party.”

* * *

 

Her name was Molly Hannah. 

Tony had met her on four different occasions. The first being the initial meeting where his father basically was selling his finer points, claiming his genius was thanks to him, he was considered a bad boy but isn’t that what all the women wanted now a days? She had stared at him with cold calculating eyes.

Tony had been bored, barely listening even when Jarvis urged him to do so. She had been married to her soulmate. Her love. He had been killed in a car accident. She had inherited his company and money. No children. 

The second time Howard had sent him to a party, Tony hated the boring socialite scene, he always called attention to himself, always the center of attention as it should be. She had introduced him to Gold, a drug he had only heard of, whispered, he had thought it was crap. 

The third time he had met her she had him alone to herself. Dinner at her home. Tony had attempted to make conversation but she hardly spoke to him. There was something about her that unnerved him and he had planned to dip out when she had offered him drinks. He couldn’t remember anything after.

The fourth time she had made it abundantly clear that she was in charge. He had been brushed off by Howard when he had told him how she had drugged him. Howard had slammed him against the wall, screaming at him about how she had come to him and sobbed that Tony had forced himself on her. That she had no choice but to marry Tony now, otherwise she would be ruined, their wedding would be the only thing that would be accepted. 

Tony wondered what life was like after your soulmate died. 

Maybe she had been different when she had been with him? Certainly Howard had been a completely different man, but Tony could only see the cold man his father had become. Tony had lost his color at eight, not long after his mother had died.

People claimed they could still see colors, though it was muted, dulled. Many reports said they chased those colors. Some reports stated that twins often amplified a persons ability to see color, whether it was their own or their siblings it was unclear. Some had killed when they found it wasn’t their own but that of their sibling, the connection allowing them to see the colors.

Howard glared at him as he entered the room, eyebrow raising as he flicked his eyes over the woman he was supposed to marry. Tony grabbed the first drink he could and rolled his eyes, moving throughout the room. There was too many people here, he frowned and was headed for the door to his father’s library when a hand closed around his neck, making him wince and whimper, forcing him back into the crowd.

“Your soon to be fiance has been waiting all night.”

“I won’t marry her,” Tony grumbled under his breath before he was crowded into the wall. “Dad-”

“You’re fucking high!” Howard growled, “go sober up!” he was shoved towards the library.

* * *

 

Marriage was a way to move ahead in life. Especially when finding your soulmate in this life was rare. People were unsure if this was due to social status or just bad luck. Maybe your soulmate was born in the wrong time, maybe they married someone else and lived their lives out as happy as they could.

Steve remembered the color of the woods he had grown up in, the brown in the leaves that fell from above along with gold, red, and orange. He had lost his colors when he had turned ten. 

There was no set age at which one lost their color. No one was smarter, no one was more special, the latest recorded color age was fifteen, that had happened fifty years ago. 

Steve followed Rhodey into the building, he wasn’t comfortable around so many people especially around the kind that filled up a building like this. High first class, looked down on ya kinda people. He preferred wholesome people like Rhodey and Sam. Sam who was grumbling as he followed them, “how did we get roped into this again?”

“You didn’t hafta come Sam,” Steve said stepping into an elevator as Rhodey pressed a button, Sam jumped in before the doors shut.

“Course I had to come, Bucky said to keep an eye on you while he and Nat went on their honeymoon, no excuses! I can’t let their honeymoon be ruined because you got into trouble!”

“Look,” Rhodey cut him off, “I just gotta pick up my boy, he doesn’t need to be there right now and I know there’s gonna be trouble.” He shook his head pursing his lips. “He’s my friend and he needs help.”

“You just know he needs help?”

“Pepper called me,” Sam snapped his mouth shut. No one questioned Pepper Potts. 

“How come we haven’t met this friend of yours?” he asked instead.

Rhodey sighed, “he went to school abroad, his dad sent him as fucking far as he could send him. Didn’t wanna deal with him after his mom passed away. Look, just, find Tony, be quiet and quick okay? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s high... there’s a rehabilitation center I can check him into.”

The three men stepped out and both Steve and Sam felt out of place in the sea of suits and dresses, the light bouncing off shiny surfaces, Sam let out a little whistle, “glad we can’t see color huh, blinded by the shine alone can you imagine the colors?!” he snickered elbowing Steve in the ribs.

* * *

 

Tony had sat heavily on the nearest surface, his fathers couch. The library was his fathers little project, he had read his first book here, made his first keyboard here. Jarvis had to clean up all his spills here. 

“Sleepy head,” he heard her voice and immediately tensed. “There you are... you know we have a full guest list out there waiting to officially meet you? Well they all know who we are, but they are still waiting for the official announcement.” She hummed, Tony grunted as he let his head fall back, he was so tired, “I should let you know, your father and I have already signed all the necessary paperwork. Has he told you that? Yes, we don’t have to be married, I will already get everything you would give me...you dad is replacing you with me... which means..”

Tony lifted his head as he felt his sleeve being pushed up, “w-wait, what are you doing?”

She smiled at him, kneeling in front of him, dark lipstick staining her smirk, he wondered if that was red? “How much have you already have tonight?” she asked wrapping something around his arm, Tony brushed her hands away, “this will make you feel better.”

“S-stop..” Tony felt his head fall back, if he took anymore he would OD it’s why he had stopped, he knew his limit. Rhodey was gonna be so pissed. He could hear him right now...

“Get off him!” Rhodey yelled Pepper moving past him and shoving the woman to the ground. 

Rhodey tried not to laugh, it was a bad situation to find Tony nearly passed out, to find some woman ready to give him enough to push him over the edge, but to see Pepper Potts slam her fist into the woman’s face was something he would remember for the rest of his life.

Pepper Potts was a force to be reckoned with when her friends and family were threatened. One look at the small lithe body and anyone would write her off. Steve knew just how hard she could hit, he had helped train her. She wanted to know how to defend herself. Sam was currently pulling her off when he looked at who she was defending.

Steve had heard tell of what it was like to see your soulmate for the first time. It had not been enough to prepare him. His breath was stolen from his lungs, the floor shook underneath, and there was a roaring that filled his ears, he was blinded by the onslaught of color that registered and he thought he might have died. 

Rhodey reached out, catching hold of Steve’s thick upper arms, steadying the blond as he wavered on his legs. “Steve? What? What’s wrong?”

“Holy shit!” Pepper looked over at Tony and back at Steve, “did you? With TONY?!”

Rhodey bit back a bark of laughter, “really?!”

“Rhodes....maybe tomorrow?” Tony grumbled from his spot on the couch, curling in on himself.

“You idiot!” Rhodey shouted as Steve pulled away from him. 

Tony felt something was happening, ah, yes, his to-be-fiance was trying to kill him. He didn’t need to wake up for that, right? Even if Rhodey was yelling at him.

“Hey...hey..” the hands on his back did not belong to Rhodey, nor did that voice. Tony had dreamt of the sky several times over the years. Nothing could have prepared him for this. 

Steve remembered how much he loved the color of wood, that deep brown that warmed him down to his soul, long dark lashes fluttered open, deep brown eyes stared at him groggily, faded, finally clearing. “Wanna get outta here?”

Tony was sure that maybe she had been successful. He had died and now he was meeting his soulmate in death? He nodded, “fuck yeah I do!” he answered gruffly, “God your beautiful.” He watched as pink dusted the mans cheeks, “my mom loved the color pink....” he hummed as a strong arm wrapped around his waist. “I can see why now.”

Steve chuckled as he stared at the older man, “really? What a charmer...” he grinned. This was not what he had expected, he had never really been sure what to expect when he met his soulmate, if he ever got the chance. He knew he was not going to be disappointed with him. 

Tony Stark was his soulmate.

Steve shook his head in wonderment his chest glowing with happiness. He didn’t pay attention to anyone else as he led him out of there. It was only warm brown eyes that held his attention.


End file.
